Table of Contents - Sample Excerpts
Chapter 13: LAP-BAND for Adolescents

The LAP-BAND has a promising future with special patients. Now that a decade of experience has passed and after perfecting the technique, this procedure has been proven to be safe and effective. This opens new possibilities in its application for weight loss in various arenas. One of the most desirable aspects is that it is gentle and mild enough for adolescents. After surgery they are so resilient and vibrant that they recover rapidly.

We live in a society where one of the most affected obesity age groups is that of the adolescents with numbers growing dramatically out of control. Measures have been taken at every level to stop this rampant disease. Fifteen percent of American children ages twelve to nineteen are either overweight or obese, according to the 1999–2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, up from 11% a decade earlier and 5% in the late 1970s.